Unfortunate Son
by Lambda38
Summary: Shiro had lived his life on Patch, studied with his cousins, trained under his father, and practiced heavily every step of the way. He'd made his way to Beacon through his determination and skill, finally beginning to make something of his small little life. He thought he had prepared himself for any eventuality. He was wrong.


**Chapter 1: A Dapper Duel**

* * *

I laugh as I slap my friend on the back, sending him stumbling along his way as I say my farewells, pulling out my scroll as I walk off.

"See ya later, Shiro," he calls out as I walk across the road.

"See ya," I reply casually, slipping my free hand into my pocket as I read the text from my cousin asking me to fetch her sister again.

_Dust Til Dawn? Again?_ I think with a fond roll of my eyes as I shoot Yang a text of confirmation and pocket my scroll. _I swear Ruby, you like the weapon magazines too much. _

I waltz along, giving some grins and tipping my hat to a few cute girls I happen to walk by, getting some giggles and blushes in return, before finally arriving at my destination. I push the door open, taking my hat off and smiling at the old man behind the counter.

"Good evening, Mr. Fredson," I say, stopping in front of the counter. "Ruby still happen to be around?"

He points towards the back of the store for me, and I thank him, walking over to the shelves in that direction. After confirming that my cape wearing cousin is still around, I divert my attention to the bullets along the shelf, picking up some of the high caliber pistol rounds.

_And this time he actually has what I'm looking for,_ I think, happily comparing the bullet to one I pull from the pistol on my belt. _Finally, some decently made .50 caliber rounds._ I grab several cartridges worth of fire and ice Dust rounds, as well as a box containing seventy-two lead bullets. _At least this wasn't a trip only suitable for Wrath again. _

I take my bounty and grab several vials of finely ground Dust for my sword up to the front counter, drawing out my debit card.

"Thirty-three thousand Yen," Mr. Fredson rings up, making my brows furrow as I pay.

"Dust getting harder to mine recently?" I ask, getting a negative reply.

"White Fang raids," he states, prompting me to sigh. I punch in my PIN number and take my now bagged product, going to retrieve my baby cousin.

I reach her and hear the bell on the door ring. I almost grab her shoulder, when a rather familiar voice tickles my ears, making me pause.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" A smooth voice says, being punctuated by the distinct sound of a bullet being chambered.

"Please, just take my Lien and leave," Mr. Fredson begs. I tune out the conversation as I slip my arms around Ruby, sliding a hand over her mouth to make sure she doesn't alert the robbers.

The red haired girl starts in surprise, only calming down when I wave my hat in front of her eyes.

"Robbers in the store, Ruby," I whisper after moving her headphones. "Hold this while I get them outside, okay?" I hold my purchase in front of her, receiving a nod.

I push her behind the shelf out of line of sight through any of the aisles, and calmly replace my hat and practically waltz through the aisle towards the front.

I rest a hand on the pommel of my sword as a goon in a black suit with red sunglasses walks right in front of me with an empty Dust canister. He looks at me in shock, and I give him a grin before backhanding him with my free right hand, sending him back towards the door. I exit the aisle and gaze upon the group of goons whose attention is now on me, as well as the face of Roman Torchwick, who is looking at me with annoyance.

"Gentlemen," I begin, pulling my revolver off my belt with my left hand. "Shall we take this outside where there isn't a good amount of volatile Dust ready to blow us up?" The goons almost attack me before Roman pipes up.

"Deal with him quickly, we aren't exactly subtle," he says, gesturing to the door.

The goons, while unhappy, draw their weapons and move outside, prompting me to follow at a lackadaisical pace. We reach the wide outdoors and I allow them to surround me, casually drawing my blade.

Winter's Wrath shimmers as I draw it, the veins upon its surface giving it an almost mechanical feel, as the red hilt in my hand seems to glow eerily, juxtaposed with my silver hand cannon, decorated with intricate designs and some gold leaf.

"Let's get this show on the road gents," I comment, bursting into motion at one of the goons holding a submachine gun. I slice clean through his weapon before slamming the butt of my pistol into his head, dropping him. "They've got no Aura!" I call to the blur blitzing at another one.

The only confirmation I receive from my diminutive cousin is the blunter end of Crescent Rose crushing him into the pavement.

I wince at the strike before deflecting two sword strikes from goons too impatient to wait for their turns. I turn my attention to the one on my right, blasting a warning shot from my handgun to the one on my left. I duck beneath his next strike before kicking his knee, making it bend with a sickening crack, and then smacking him down, his cries of pain reaching to the sky.

I turn my attention to the other and get a face full of rose petals, some of which get in my mouth.

I spit them out as the last goon gets tossed away by Ruby. She sticks out her tongue at me as her scythe falls into place behind her.

"I got four of them, you owe me ice cream and cookies," she brags. I scoff and ruffle her hair as I turn my attention to Roman who's just leaving the store with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get you your sweets, kiddo," I reply calmly, meeting the eyes of the well dressed thief.

"Well, Silver, little Red, it's been an eventful evening, and while I'd love to stick around and give you notes on better fashion," he says, dropping his cigar on the ground and crushing it.

I blink as what he says settles in.

"Am I getting fashion advice from a guy in a bowling hat?" I interrupt incredulously, making the man frown.

"Far classier and better looking than that fedora, kid," he says, thumbing something on his cane.

"Oi, fedoras are quite stylish, ya spastic eyeliner wearing dapper fuck!" I shout.

"Language!" Ruby says, getting an annoyed side glance from me. I notice Roman moving as I glance away and look back in time to realize his cane is a gun.

His cane…. is a gun…

What?

I watch as a loud thwump sound reaches my ear and a bright large projectile faces towards me. I curse and aim my hand cannon, sighting and firing just before it hits me.

The explosion still punts me several yards, but it's better than a direct hit.

I groan as I sit up, watching as Ruby lands lightly on her feet, probably having gone up on her scythes recoil. I look around for my sword, seeing it several yards away.

I walk over to grab it and look for Roman, who appears to have made a greater escape in the cover of the blast. Curiously, the sound of a Bullhead engine reaches my ears.

_There are no landing spaces nearby nor are they allowed to fly so low, so where-? _I watch as a Bullhead pulls out from behind a building, going on its way above us as Ruby talks with Mr. Fredson and makes sure he's okay. I notice the door of the Bullhead is open and blink in surprise as Roman leans out the side, gesturing in farewell with his hat.

I sheath my sword and tip my hat in return as he flies away, the sound of sirens piercing the groans of the men on the pavement around us, predictably late.

"Right, Ruby," I call, getting her attention as I walk over. "Get your items and pay for them, we'll give statements to the police and then we have to head home, alright?" She freezes and pales at my words.

"How do we give statements? What do we do about all the thieves?" She begins panicking and racing her mouth, prompting me to sigh. I bring my hand up and rub the top of her head, making her silence and pout.

"Don't worry, it's a way for the police to feel fancy about it all, it just means telling them what happened," I reassure her. "They might take some notes, but there's nothing to it." I remove my hand from her hair after some prodding from her, and look around. "Now where's the stuff I bought?" Ruby blinks before zipping inside the store past Mr. Fredson, who upon hearing my question had already moved out of the way, and then back out with my stuff.

I check it to make sure everything is still in order, and notice one of the Dust bullets have mysteriously vanished. I turn my eyes on Ruby, the picture of honest innocence, and open my mouth to speak before a blonde woman lands near us.

I blink as I look at her, recognizing her as one of the Professors of Beacon from a tour I'd attended before.

And she does not look very happy.

* * *

I look at Ruby as we ride the ferry back to Patch, the girl buzzing with excitement so visibly that petals are falling out of her.

"So, what's the news, pipsqueak?" I ask, brushing a lock of hair from my face.

"Oh, I got to meet Professor Ozpin, he invited me to attend Beacon with you and Yang!" The girl squees, making me blink in shock, a scowl forming before I switch to a smile,

"Well done, pipsqueak," I say, rubbing her head again, though she only smiles as I mess up her hair. "So, you'll be the youngest Huntress at Beacon, a total prodigy and everybody's going to be so jealous of how skipped two whole years." With every word I say, I can see her rosy happiness shatter to her usual antisocial awkwardness.

"Maybe, we don't mention that to them?" She asks with a hopeful smile, though her eyes show her desperation. I destroy her hopes with a cheery grin.

"Nonsense!" I state. "Everyone shall know of the adventures of the great Ruby Rose, Cookie Huntress Extraordinaire!" The girl pulls her hood down over her face and she groans pitifully, making me feel slightly bad. "But in any event, who isn't going to be curious about a prodigy that skipped two years?" I bump her shoulder lightly with mine, giving her a reassuring smile despite my teasing. "Don't worry, Yang and I will be there, even if we aren't all on the same team, okay pipsqueak?"

She gives me a slightly wan smile, and I give her a smirk, holding up the bag I'd gone and retrieved after giving my statement to the police.

"Now I believe you wanted cookies?" I ask with a smirk. Her eyes light up, and she looks at the bag, peeking into it only to deflate as she realizes it's not yet cookies. "Oh come on, I make the best in Vale and you know it, stop being so down." I flick her nose, making her protest mightily, though I can see a smile.

That's good.

Now I wonder how this will go down with both my little cousins coming with me? Eh, shouldn't be any more hectic than usual.

* * *

**AN: **So. This was a request fic…. Regrets people. This is what regret looks like. Me, wanting to die a swift death due to having too many stories…. *sigh* I really need to take down the note that says I'm open to writing stories.

Right, depending on what reception this gets, I should be putting out a chapter sometime. See ya next chapter or at one of my other stories.

-Lambda38


End file.
